Exploring the fundamentals

The basic issues involved in delegation are autonomy and control. How much authority is the delegate able to exercise without referring back to the delegator? How far should the delegator exercise direct influence over the delegate's work? When you choose a delegate you are assessing whether a particaular person is fully capable of performing the task within available resources. Having appointed a delegate, you must ensure that they are allowed sufficient autonomy to undertake the task in their own way, subject to an initial briefing and regular reports on progress.

Defining the process

The unending process of delegation is integral to the manager's role. The process begins with the analysis - selecting the tasks that the manager could, and should delegate. When the tasks are selected, the parameters of each should be clearly defined. This will help the delegator to appoint an appropriate delegate and to provide as accurate a brief as possible. Whatever the role, proper briefing is essential - you cannot hold people responsible for vague or undefined tasks. Monitoring of some kind is also essential, but should be used for control ans coaching rather than interference. The final stage is appraisal. How well has the delegate performed? What changes, on both sides need to be made to improve performance?